


Over and over, attempting to change the outcome

by JenJo



Series: 52 Short Stories in 52 Weeks [29]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Confused Clint Barton, Deaf Clint Barton, Groundhog Day-esque, M/M, Magic, To be fair its not his fault, its a very confusing set of events, its always magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-07-29 21:44:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7700851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JenJo/pseuds/JenJo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How many times can someone live through the same day before changing something?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Over and over, attempting to change the outcome

**Author's Note:**

> Week 32: A story about a curse.  
> Hand-wave explanations of magic.

“So….” Clint trailed off, cracking his knuckles.   
“So.”   
“We just gonna stare at each other until one of us cracks and talks?”   
Bucky shrugged. “Sounds like a good plan.”   
Clint narrowed his eyes; Bucky stayed impassive.   
“We’re adults,” Clint crossed his arms over his chest.   
Bucky nodded, mirroring Clint’s stance.   
“That’s what they keep tellin’ me.”   
“So why aren’t we acting like it?”   
Bucky shrugged. Clint blew out a breath, throwing his hands in the air.   
“Fine! I’m sorry I ate the last of the peanut butter. I shouldn’t have done that without replacing it. I am sorry.”   
Bucky uncrossed his arms, holding them loose at his sides. “And I am sorry for using your shampoo. I was missing you while you were on assignment, and wanted to be closer to you.”   
“Great. Wait,” Clint held up a hand, confusion on his face. “You wanted to be  _ closer to me  _ and you thought the best way to do that was by using my  _ shampoo _ ?”   
Bucky looked away, pushing his hair off of his face. “I like the smell of your shampoo. It reminds me of you, so I used it.”   
“My shampoo is generic brand, sometimes coffee flavoured. How does it remind you of me?”   
Bucky looked back at Clint then. “The smell is  _ you _ . The times when you fall asleep on my shoulder, and I my head and just inhale. It’s  _ you _ . I can’t explain it, alright?” Bucky turned around, vaulting over the couch to lay down. 

Clint ran his hands down his face, shaking his head. “It isn’t supposed to be like this.”   
“What?” Bucky sat up, looking over the top of the couch.

Clint lowered his hands, face scrunched up in confusion. “Huh?”   
Bucky raised an eyebrow. “You said, ‘it isn’t supposed to be like this’. What does that mean?”   
“No idea,” Clint came over to lean on the back of the couch, looking down at Bucky. “We okay?”

Bucky nodded, holding up his arm; Clint rolled over the top of the couch, laying down with his head on Bucky’s shoulder.

“We’ll never be perfect,” Bucky said, smelling Clint’s hair. “But that’s us.”   
“Yeah,” Clint closed his eyes. “I’m not worried about the shampoo. You can use it whenever you want.”   
“Alright. But no more eating the peanut butter. That’s mine.”

 

~~~

 

“We have a problem, team. A problem that we must solve with haste.” Tony looked around the table, solemn expression on his face. “Romanoff’s birthday is in three days, and we must take her absence as an opportunity to plan a party.” Tony turned to Clint, who had snorted. “Something funny, barton?”   
“Just that, Nat’s birthday?” Clint shook his head. “Isn’t in three days.”

“Yes it is.”   
“You looking at her SHIELD papers?” When Tony nodded, Clint smiled wide. “Faked.”

“Then when is her birthday?”

“Oh, you can pretend it’s in three days, she won’t correct you. Hell, she might even enjoy it,” Clint shrugged his shoulders. “But she will find a way to let you know that you are wrong.”

Tony shook his head, collapsing into a chair. “Fine. Whatever. Why can’t that woman just tell the truth?”

The assembled team stared at Tony. “What?”

“She’s  _ Natasha _ ,” Steve deadpanned. “If she’s telling you the truth, there’s a hundred things she isn’t telling you.”

Clint nodded. “Exactly.”

 

~~~

 

“You ever get the feeling you’ve been here before?” Clint leant back on the counter, waiting for the coffee to be ready.

Wanda gave Clint a confused look, stirring a pot on the stove. “Deja vu?”

Clint shook his head. “Nah, I’m talking, like, you’ve  _ actually  _ been through these events before. Exactly the same, but slight differences.”

Wanda turned to the stove, turned it off, and stood in front of Clint, tilting her head to the side. “What is wrong?”

“Nothing’s  _ wrong _ , exactly,” Clint rubbed the back of his neck. “Just… we see a lot of weird stuff, and maybe this isn’t normal?”

Wanda raised her right hand. “May I?” When Clint nodded, she let red energy flow from her hand, connecting to Clint’s mind.

“You know what you did.”

“What?” Clint blinked; Wanda’s eyes were glowing with energy, but she didn’t respond to him.

“You know what you did, Clinton Francis Barton. And you know how to change things. You must change it.”

Wanda blinked, lowering her hand and smiling at Clint. “Nothing wrong with you that I can see.”   
Clint shook his head. “Nothing… what did you mean?”

Wanda’s smile dropped. “What? Nothing wrong. As in, nothing I can sense. What is it?”

Clint smiled at Wanda. “Nothing. Thanks for checking.”

 

~~~

 

Clint woke up, alone in the bed.  _ That’s not right _ , he thought. He had gotten in late, back from a month long mission. The first thing that Clint had done upon getting back to the tower was head straight for the fridge. Opening it, he immediately saw the peanut butter. At two a.m and having not eaten for twelve hours, the jar practically  _ called  _ to Clint, begging to be eaten.

Clint had then slipped into the bed, a sleeping Bucky rolling over and putting an arm around Clint’s waist. Their usual post-mission routine involved staying in bed together for as long as possible.  
_Maybe Bucky’s in the shower?_ He rolled over to the bedside table, retrieving his hearing aids. 

_ No shower. Huh. _

Clint rolled out of bed, going to look in the bathroom to brush his teeth. Or he would have, had his toothpaste not been empty.

“JARVIS, where’s Bucky?”

“Clint?” FRIDAY’s voice came through the speakers. “Are you okay?”

Clint shook his head. “Sorry FRIDAY. Where’s Bucky?”

“He is in your kitchen, looking in the fridge.”

“In the…” Clint spun on his heels, racing to the kitchen. Bucky was standing there, arms crossed.

“Clinton Francis.”

Clint walked over to stand opposite Bucky. “James Buchanan.”   
“Did you sleep well?”

Clint shrugged a shoulder. “Best I could, better than I did on the mission.”

Bucky nodded. “That’s good.”

The pair fell into silence, staring at each other.   
“So….” Clint trailed off, cracking his knuckles.   
“So.”   
“We just gonna stare at each other until one of us cracks and talks?”   
Bucky shrugged. “Sounds like a good plan.”   
Clint narrowed his eyes; Bucky stayed impassive.   
“We’re adults,” Clint crossed his arms over his chest.   
Bucky nodded, mirroring Clint’s stance.   
“That’s what they keep tellin’ me.”   
“So why aren’t we acting like it?”   
Bucky shrugged. Clint blew out a breath, throwing his hands in the air.   
“Fine! I’m sorry I ate the last of the peanut butter. I shouldn’t have done that without replacing it. I am sorry.”   
Bucky uncrossed his arms, holding them loose at his sides. “And I am sorry for using your toothpaste`. I was missing you while you were on assignment, and wanted to be closer to you.”   
“Great. Wait,” Clint held up a hand, confusion on his face. “You wanted to be  _ closer to me  _ and you thought the best way to do that was by using my  _ toothpaste _ ?”   
Bucky looked away, pushing his hair off of his face. “I like the smell of your toothpaste. It reminds me of you, so I used it.”   
“My toothpaste is generic brand. How does it remind you of me?”   
Bucky looked back at Clint then. “The taste is  _ you _ . Kisses first thing after brushing our teeth, the last kiss of the night. The taste of the toothpaste is... It’s  _ you _ . I can’t explain it, alright?” Bucky turned around, walking out of the kitchen to vault over the couch to lay down. 

Clint ran his hands down his face, shaking his head. “It isn’t supposed to be like this. It’s supposed to be shampoo.”   
“What?” Bucky sat up, looking over the top of the couch.

Clint lowered his hands, face scrunched up in confusion. “Huh?”   
Bucky raised an eyebrow. “You said, ‘it isn’t supposed to be like this. It’s supposed to be shampoo’. What does that mean?”   
Clint froze, looking at Bucky intently before seeming to come to a decision. “No idea,” Clint came over to lean on the back of the couch, looking down at Bucky. “We okay?”

Bucky nodded, holding up his arm; Clint rolled over the top of the couch, laying down with his head on Bucky’s shoulder.

“We’ll never be perfect,” Bucky said, smelling Clint’s hair. “But that’s us.”   
“Yeah,” Clint closed his eyes. “I’m not worried about the toothpaste. You can use it whenever you want.”   
“Alright. But no more eating the peanut butter. That’s mine.”

Clint laughed. “Alright. That’s fine by me. Hey, you ever use my shampoo?”

“Your creepy coffee flavoured shampoo? No way.”

“Huh, that’s weird. I could have sworn you’ve stolen my shampoo before.”

“Must be losing your memory in your old age, you old man.”

“If I’m an old man, what does that make you?”

“Shh,” Bucky ran a hand down Clint’s back. “Sleep time. We can joke about old age later.”

  
~~~

 

“We have a problem, team. A problem that we can solve.” Steve looked around the table, solemn expression on his face. “The twin’s birthday is in three days, and we must take their absence as an opportunity to plan a party.” Steve turned to Clint, who had snorted. “Something funny, Barton?”   
“Just that, the twin’s  birthday?” Clint shook his head. “Isn’t in three days.”

“Yes it is.”   
Clint looked pointedly at Tony, who was struggling not to laugh.

“Tony…” Steve waited until Tony was looking at him. “Why did you show me evidence that their birthday was in three days?”

Tony let out his laughter. “Because you wanted to know,” Tony sobered up, looking at Steve seriously. “And you would have been disappointed if you couldn’t celebrate for them.”

“So you didn’t do this to prank me?” When Tony shook his head, Steve sat down. “Alright.”

“We could still have a party,” Clint offered. “It will be a celebration of teamwork.”

“A celebration. Of teamwork.”

“Why not?” Clint smiled. “If she’s telling you the truth, there’s a hundred things she isn’t telling you.”

“What on earth does that mean?” Tony asked Clint. Clint blinked, turning to look at Natasha beside him.

“Huh?” Clint asked Natasha, who raised an eyebrow at Clint.

“You’re not making much sense Hawkeye. Maybe you should get some rest, you are coming off of a long mission.”

Clint nodded, standing up from the table. “Yeah, yeah, a rest. Right.”

 

~~~

 

“You ever get the feeling you’ve been here before?” Clint leant back on the counter, waiting for the coffee to be ready.

Wanda gave Clint a confused look, stirring a pot on the stove. “I have been in the kitchen before, and you practically live here.”

Clint shook his head. “Nah, like you’ve lived through this before.”

“Deja vu?”

Clint shook his head. “Nah, I’m talking, like, you’ve  _ actually  _ been through these events before. Exactly the same, but slight differences.”

Wanda turned to the stove, turned it off, and stood in front of Clint, tilting her head to the side. “What is wrong?”

“Nothing’s  _ wrong _ , exactly,” Clint scratched the top of his head. “Just… we see a lot of weird stuff, and maybe this isn’t normal?”

Wanda raised her left hand. “May I?” When Clint nodded, she let red energy flow from her hand, connecting to Clint’s mind.

“You know what you did.”

“What?” Clint blinked; Wanda’s eyes were glowing with energy, but she didn’t respond to him.

“You know what you did, Clinton Francis Barton. And you know how to change things. You must change it.”

“How?”

“Only you can answer that; you won’t find the answers with the Maximoff.”

Wanda blinked, lowering her hand and smiling at Clint. “Nothing wrong with you that I can see.”   
Clint shook his head. “Nothing… what did you mean?”

Wanda’s smile dropped. “What? Nothing wrong. As in, nothing I can sense.” Wanda narrowed her eyes at Clint. “What is it?”

Clint smiled at Wanda, giving her a quick hug. “Nothing. Thanks for checking. Get back to your cooking.”

Clint left the kitchen without getting his coffee.

 

~~~

 

Normally, the sun didn’t wake up Clint, but this morning was different. Clint woke up from his best sleep in a month. He  _ hated  _ missions for SHIELD; he was seriously considering retiring and becoming a full time Avenger.

_ Or, a full time _ something,  _ anyway,  _ Clint smiled as he felt an arm curl around him tighter.

“Go back to sleep,” Bucky tapped out on Clint’s stomach. Clint rolled over, smiling at Bucky.

“Morning love.”

Bucky blinked his eyes open. “Why are you awake?”

“Wanted to see you.”

Bucky rolled his eyes. “Sap.”

“What was that? I can’t hear you,” Clint smiled as he rolled over to reach his hearing aids. “Much better. Now, what was that?”

“You know what I said,” Bucky pulled Clint back to his chest, arms tight. 

“Sorry I ate your peanut butter,” Clint admitted. 

“What?”

“When I got back this morning, I finished off your peanut butter.”

Bucky shook his head against the top of Clint’s.  “I finished the peanut butter before you got back. There was no peanut butter for you to have.”

“I could have sworn I finished off your peanut butter.”

“See? This is a sign you should go back to sleep.”   
  
~~~

 

“You finally stopped going back to the Maximoff.”

Clint raised an eyebrow at Sam. “What?”

Sam’s eyes were glowing red. “You will learn. In time. You know what you did, Clinton Francis Barton. And you know how to change things. You must change it.”

“What the hell?”

Sam, whose eyes were no longer glowing, put a hand on Clint’s shoulder. “Hey, I just asked if you want some coffee. You alright?”

Clint shrugged off Sam’s hand, shaking his head. “I’m going down to the range.”

  
~~~

 

Clint woke up alone in his bed, well rested after a month long mission.   
Clint sat up, putting in his hearing aids, before going to the kitchen to find Bucky looking at the fridge.   
“I’m sorry,” Clint preempted. Bucky turned around, holding a spoon to his mouth, peanut butter jar in his hand.   
“What for?”

Clint shook his head. “I ate that last night.”

Bucky lifted the jar, showing Clint a half full jar. “Clearly you didn’t. Did you hit your head on that mission?”

Clint sat up on the kitchen bench, frowning at Bucky. “No. But I’ve done this before.”

“This,” Bucky put down the jar, turning his full attention on Clint. “What do you mean?”

Clint waved a hand around. “Coming home after the mission, eating the peanut butter, you apologising for using my shampoo. Or my toothpaste, it changes. But I always eat your peanut butter.”

Bucky frowned, putting a hand on Clint’s forehead. “You sure you’re alright?”

Clint batted away Bucky’s hand. “I know what I’ve done. For whatever reason, I’ve been relieving this post mission day. And the only constant is me eating your peanut butter.” Clint pointed at the jar. “Except for this time. Why is that?”

“How many times?”

Clint shrugged. “There’s the time you used my shampoo, the time you used my toothpaste, Natasha’s birthday, the twin’s birthday… maybe five times?”

“Five times. And have you ever talked to anyone about it?”

Clint frowned down at the ground, trying to remember. “The first few times, no. A couple of times, Wanda checked my head, but never saw anything. But…”

“But?”

Clint’s eyes went wide as he remembered. “It was like I was talking to someone else through Wanda. Then Sam. Telling me that only I could fix things.”

“Well it’s about time you figured it out.”

Clint’s head snapped up, looking at Bucky, whose eyes were glowing red. “What have i figured out?”

Bucky smiled. “The one you need to talk to to break the cycle.”

Clint jumped down off the counter, throwing his hands in the air. “What cycle!”

“For three weeks, you have relieved this day, with slight variances.”

“Why?”

“You know what you did.”

“No, I really don’t.”

“Yes, you do,” Bucky reached forward, putting a finger to Clint’s forehead. “Remember.”

 

~~~

 

It was the final day of the month long mission. SHIELD had sent him all over Europe, chasing down leads on HYDRA. Why he had been chosen, Clint had no idea. Hill had called, and Clint had answered.

Another month, and no new HYDRA leads. One last location to check, and Clint could be back at home with Bucky. He had missed their anniversary, and was looking forward to making up for lost time.

This base was unlike the others; communications had been knocked out straight away. And whatever had knocked out the comms was causing his aids to emit a very unpleasant buzzing. Unfortunately, Clint needed to be able to hear, so he put up with the noise. ( _ Begrudgingly _ , Clint would write in his mission report.)

And he would blame the buzzing for why he was standing one moment, the next strapped to a chair.

“You are awake. Good.”

Clint looked around; the room was pitch black, and he couldn’t see anything. “I don’t know, if I’m awake, I can get you.”

The voice laughed. “Agent Barton, how can you hit me if you can’t even see me?”

Clint shook his head. “Who are you?”

“I don’t think you are in a position to be asking questions. All you need to know, is that you will do exactly as I want.”

“And if I refuse?”

“You will have no choice. Thanks to you, I will soon be in control of the Avengers.”

Clint was unconscious the next second.

 

~~~

 

When Clint next woke, he was sitting in the chair, unstrapped. There was a man standing in front of him, staring intently at Clint.

Clint reacted on instinct, grabbing the man’s neck. “Make a move, and I will crush your windpipe. Take it from me, it isn’t pleasant.”

The man held up his hands in surrender; Clint let go.    
“Why did you attack me?”

“I didn’t attack you Mr Barton, I’m trying to save you.”

“By tying me to a chair?”

The man shook his head. “No, I didn’t.. You don’t recognise me.”

Clint looked at the man again. “You look vaguely familiar.”

“Kate sent me.”

“Kate…” Clint looked at the man again. “You’re Billy.”

Billy nodded. “Yes. Kate was worried about you. You were captured by a powerful sorcerer. They’ve implanted a subliminal spell; you won’t know what you’re doing.”

“You can fix this, right?”

Billy shook his head. “No, but I can help you to break the spell later. I hope.”

“You hope,” Clint rubbed his eyes. “I hate magic.”

“If this works how I hope it will, you won’t be helping the sorcerer, but working to break the spell.”

Clint nodded. “Don’t have much choice, do I?”

Billy smiled. “No. You won’t remember this, nor will you remember what you need to do. You need to talk to Bucky Barnes.”

“Bucky… why Bucky?”

“He is the one you have the closest connection to, and as such, the best chance to break the spell. You talk to him about what’s happening, and the spell will break.”

“But I won’t remember.”

“No. Good luck.” With that, Billy disappeared.

Clint shook his head, picking up his arrow and quiver from the corner of the room.

“Extraction in five,” came over the comms; Clint shook his head, looking around the room confusedly.

“How did I get here?”

“Barton?”

“Nothing. I’ll be on the roof. Would really like some peanut butter.”

 

~~~

 

Clint blinked, looking at Bucky. “What?”

Bucky, who had his spoon in his mouth, dropped it slowly. “What? I’m eating my peanut butter. Is that not allowed?”

Clint scratched his head. “What just happened?”

“I’ve been eating peanut butter,” Bucky pointed the spoon at Clint. “And you have been staring off into space waiting for your coffee. Which is ready, by the way.”

Bucky pressed the cup into Clint’s hand. Clint stared into the coffee, feeling a massive headache forming.

“Oh, and we’re having a team meeting in five. Something to do with some kids?”

Clint nodded, not really paying attention as Bucky guided him to the meeting room. 

Clint didn’t pay attention in the meeting either; he was left to his own devices, given that he was coming off of a month long mission.

Until after the meeting, when Kate punched his shoulder.

“Sleeping through a meeting? You are an old man.” She sat down next to him, looking at him with concern. “You alright?”

Clint raised his head, making a see-saw motion with his hand. “Feels like I’ve lived a month in a day.”

“That really doesn’t make sense Barton. See you tomorrow?”   
“Sure,” Clint agreed, standing up. He then saw Billy walking out of the door.

“You alright?” Bucky asked. Clint waved a hand.

“Give me a moment,” Clint said over his shoulder as he followed Billy to the common room.

“Talk.”

Billy smiled. “You broke the cycle. Good.”

“What cycle?”

“You upset a powerful sorcerer, who had set up residence in a HYDRA facility,” Billy looked around, making sure that no one was listening in. “You would have acted as a sleeper agent, if not for me setting up the cycle.”

“You trapped me in a never ending day.”

“It was that, or let you betray the Avengers at an unknown later date. Did you want that?”

“I suppose not.”

“Everything okay over here?” Bucky asked, putting an arm around Clint’s shoulders.   
“Everything’s okay, Mr Barnes,” Billy nodded at Clint, before walking away. Bucky looked at Clint.

“You looked worried. You alright?”

Clint smiled, putting an arm around Bucky’s waist. “Everything’s fine. For the first time in awhile, I think.”

“Really?”

“Really,” Clint shot Bucky a conspiratorial smile, lowering his voice. “Now, if I remember correctly, I was away for our anniversary. I think we have some time to make up.”

“I like the way you think.”

 

~~~  
  
  
Clint woke up with an arm around his torso, Bucky’s breath a steady rhythm against his back. Clint moved to take hold of Bucky’s hand.

“Mornin’,” Bucky spoke against the back of Clint’s neck. “Sleep well?”

Clint hummed as he reached out to retrieve his hearing aids, before rolling over to give Bucky a wide smile. “Best sleep I’ve had in two months.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading :)  
> So the magic & pirate stories just. Won't. Write. So I wrote this up.
> 
> Don't worry if it doesn't make sense- Clint is the P.O.V character, & he doesn't understand what happened.  
> See you all next time :)


End file.
